Awful service, disapointing food. I had belly of pork with cider gravy & mash in January- it was lish. Go in there yesterday with my Mum, I order the same & am really looking forward to it. She ordered steak & kidney pie, creamy mash & buttered carrots. Mine arrived first, swimming in ordinary thin gravy (not the thick, pale appley tasting gravy of 8 weeks ago). I tell the waiter, who it transpires is the manager (Argumentative Anthony), that this isn't cider gravy. He argues & an enslaught of comic yes it is, no it isn't, yes it is is played out before he finally says he'll ask chef. Whilst talk of cider gravy has been going on, my mother's pie arrived, a good few minutes & specifically more than 2 minutes after mine. She hasn't touched hers during my argument with the waiter but realised just as he is about to 'go ask chef' that there's no potato?! He explains that it's in the pie, at the bottom of the pie & leaves. My Mum pokes her fork around & this weird gruel like, gloppy mix of mash & meat oozes to the surface. She tries to eat it, offers me a taste (it doesn't taste like beef, it tastes rank) & starts on her carrot (just the one). Waitress appears asks about sauces? I suggest, if cider gravy is not forthcoming I'll want apple sauce. She suggests she get some anyway (so I conclude, they'll be no cider gravy). He returns: change of supplier & that's how it comes now there's cider in it Really? I can't taste it. He says I'll ask them for more gravy, I ask if he'd like to take my plate (he doesn't, it's swimming in gravy & I wonder if I get more where I'll put it?) A bowl of gravy arrives, it's the colour of bovril & nigh on as thick, there is booze in it, doesn't taste appley, just strong. I compromise & swirl it into the first batch with a spoon full of apple sauce Mum goes to the bar: tells the girl the potato in the pie is not nice & can she order a side of chips as she wants potato. The chips come, they're nice. Mum leaves half the pie. Manager Argumentative Anthony comes to collect plates, he comments on the gravy, I comment on the vastly different colour of batch 2 & tell him that its clearly different gravy but at least alchahol could be detected. Does that souls like I'm satisfied? My Mym draws his attention to the half eaten pie & tells him it was revolting & that having mash in the pie is just plain weird. His reply: well we've always done it this way. When she goes to the bar to complain, it transpires Argumentative Anthony is the manager. Yikes! She tells him she won't pay full price for the pie. He tells her that its policy she does. He tells her she ate it all! She disagrees yea you did, no I didn't, blah blah. She tells him the menu is deceptive & there is a comma between pie & creamy mash he doesn't have an answer beyond 'well we've been doing it that way for 3 years', as though she should know that by now. She points out she's not been there before, that the menu is deceptive & that she left the pie he argues & again claims she ate it all. He also said they did the '2 minute check' & that no complaint was raised at this crucial 2 minute stage! She said, when she last saw him, she hadnt touched her food & was asking where the potato was?Because as I later pointed pit to her. her diner arrived more than 2 minutes after mine & that it was only me that was checked on! Oh & as to her not paying full price for an uneaten meal it's against policy. 2 minute checks & policy quotes very corporate bs for a country pub! We paid. They lost customers. The owner will get this complaint & I will post this review where I can. Just awful! On the way out my Mum said goodbye to a lady she had spoken to earlier. They had chicken & leek pie with creamy mash. Their mash was in the pie, they commented to the waiter that that was weird. If people have been commenting on the weirdness of a pie that comes with mash in the bottom & pastry on top at the same rate an hour for the last 3 years why hasn't someone changed the pies to that of a traditional recipes & put the mash on the side? Is this place run by idiots? Well yes, rude idiots! The Pied Bull were the customer is a liar & it's policy you pay for our bad food & awful service. read more

We visited The Pied Bull today, our second visit. First time, last month, sat in the garden, had a starter and a main, all was well. Today, having bought family with us, it was a disaster. We were told a few times that our table was ready even though we were an hour early and enjoying a drink, handed menus before we'd even sat at our table in an effort that could have been helpful but I suspect it was more to hurry us along. We enquired as to what the veggie burger was made of, the waitress (who was there over a month ago at our last visit) said she did not know. Really? Why not?! No offer of 'I will find out for you', we had to ask if she could go and enquire. Another person came over to give us the answer although it still wasn't entirely clear. When we went to our table, still 20 minutes before we'd booked it for we were asked 'can I take your order' by the waitress before we'd even sat in the seats. After politely saying that we might like to sit down first she then proceeded to not come back. A male waiter appeared and started to hand out menus even though there was an entire pile of them already on the table. Starters and main courses plus further drinks were ordered. We waited and the starters arrived. Buffalo mozzarella with tomato and a pesto sauce (two of) was announced as feta salad to which we replied no-one had ordered that. It was taken away for the mistake to be rectified. Only to be returned and told that it was, in fact, the buffalo mozzarella dish. It wasn't. It was actually a bowl of lettuce, some cucumber, 2 slices of tomato and the soggiest, measliest, weirdest piece of mozzarella I've seen on the top. We sent them both back and reordered different starters. We were then left waiting so long for these that we almost gave up and went home. Plates weren't cleared and no explanation as to what was happening. New starters eventually arrived way after our group had finished theirs. They were okay, we ate them and asked that they just bring the mains as soon as they could. Well, 3 out of 5 of our group were not happy with their meals. Average at best, just not great and one meal wasn't eaten atall. But mostly, in the end, our complaint came down to the service and attitude of the staff but mainly who we deduced to be the manager/owner. On hearing through her staff that we had complained about some of the food she appeared, all guns blazing as it were, to set us straight on our complaint. There was not an ounce of the customer is right nor any apology and came across as extremely defensive. We even tried to discuss the fact that we don't go round complaining all the time and that some of the meals had been acceptable, however, she actually walked off mid conversation. We asked them to remove the uneaten meal from the bill, which they did, we paid and left. It was a shame as it's a nice little pub inside, has a half decent garden which gets the sun and I was picturing frequenting there when we get to summer. I'm thinking we probably won't. read more

Visited the Pied Bull today and was treated appalingly when we dared to confront the manageress regarding waiting time for food. We were left in the beer garden for 30 mins and forgotten despite being told that a waitress/waiter would come to us to take our food/drinks order. When we reminded them we were outside waiting we ordered drinks and food and waited another 15 mins for the drinks to arrive. And when they did we were given the wrong drinks! Then food for my wife came but mine didnt show so my wife ate alone and i didnt even get a drink or food! I approached the manageress politely and tried to explain. Half way through she turned her back on me and went to the till to tell me how much i owed her for the food and drink!!! shocking!!!!!! I then told her she needed to hear what i have to say so she knows the full picture. To which she said you can leave the pub now I replied after about a 10 second gap to compute what she had just said and asked did you just tell me to leave? she said, no yes you did, i said .she ignored me and started serving another customer at the bar!!!! shes crazy!! Pure comedy when i think back! She then turned to me and said the reason is because its the young girls first shift at the pub i replied no its not as the same young lady had served use on at least 3 previous occasions when we had visited the pub Liar Liar knickers on fire!!!!!!! Busted!!!!!!! Try taking responsability for your staff?? not lying and treating your customers as fools! Not at any point did the words SORRY even cross her lips. She is the most incapable manager of a pub/restaurant i have ever had the misfortune of meeting. Not to be able to deal with a simple customer complaint or have the ability to maybe say, Im very sorry sir but we are short staffed today and we have a few inexperienced members of staff on duty and we are extra busy. Please accept my appologies and i hope this wont stop you coming back to us in the future to give us another chance. (after all everyone has an off day!) She almost squares up to you in a way as if to say how dare you complain about the bad service you have recieved in my pub today. I rang her several hours after to talk to her before leaving a bad review and she said i am very busy right now but i will call you back later and i can give you my undevided attention i said that was reasonable and she put the phone down on me without another word. Did she call me back??? did she hell!!! Shes arrogant rude horrible and a liari will never put another £1 into that pub as long as i live. She is actually similarly mad in her ways to Basil Fawlty as a previous comment points out. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PUB IF YOU DONT WANT YOUR DAY RUINED!!!!!!!!! (I must add that the staff this women takes on in the bar as waiters/waitresses are very good most of the time. I can only imagine the hell they have to put up with working for her) read more

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE PIED BULL 16/03/2013. We are a couple in our early 50's & have to say the service at the Pied Bull is the worst I have ever encountered in any pub or restaurant we have ever visited. We arrived at 22:10 stood at the bar for five minutes waiting to be served & being completed ignored by the young lady behind the bar. The pub had only four customers ( a sign of hard economic times or evidence of previous poor service & pub management perhaps the latter). Eventually I had to gain the member of staff attention by saying excuse me as she continued to ignore us when she finished counting the days takings. When she did finally come to serve us there was no explanation or apology for the delay in being served. I ordered a glass of white Zinfandel & was told in a rude manner We don't stock it. However during our long wait to be served I had checked the wine list & there was an alternative medium sweet rose on the wine list Rose d' Anjou. No effort was made to advise us of this surely any self respecting bar worker in a pub that has a large selection of wines should advise a customer of an alternative. Five minutes after taking our seats and only a third of the way through our drinks at 22:25 we were asked " Do you want another drink before I till up". Consequently this left us feeling rushed & unwelcome. We politely declined. At 22:58 with less than a fluid ounce left in our glasses we were told to drink up. On leaving I politely told the lady behind the bar that her service was the worst we had ever encountered. However she did not appear bothered in the slightest. I asked if she was the manager & she replied she was the owner. I suggested that perhaps her pub having a total of six customers for a Saturday night may be an indication of her poor management & social skills & she replied. " We were packed earlier". I asked if being packed earlier & having reached her financial target for the day was an excuse for poor service, there was no reply. On leaving there are to large steps to climb as you exit the pub. There is a lamplight on the wall which she had switched in her rush to close the pub at 23:00. Therefore the exit was pitch black. We advised her that this was a breach of health & safety & if a customer missed their step in the pitch darkness they could have a bad fall. To this she replied there is another light which comes on by sensor. There was indeed but it was not working. I will leave readers to draw their own conclusions of our review. Personally having used the pub on occasion over the past twenty seven years we will not be returning. read more

Possibly the most bizarre service experience I have had in many years. Two of us went in and took a table - I went up to the bar and asked if they had a wine list -- "what wine are you looking for ?" Thought about responding "Petrus '61" but instead said - " well - I had rather hoped to see what you had to offer" "all our wines are on the shelves behind the bar next door - go and have a look" In the dim light there are perhaps 200 bottles of wine - possibly 20 different varieties -- From 6ft away I am trying to pick out something interesting when another member of staff asks if he can help -- I ask for the wine list "don't have one - somebody stole it ! " (seriously that's what he said) Ok I said -- how much is the bottle of Latour? "I don't know I will find out " - he dissappears for five minutes ( lterally) - comes back and says "£15" - mmm! - How much is the Cotes du Rhone - I ask He dissappears again - I overhear him asking the original staff member - - she responds " I don't know -- look under Rose!" - A few minutes later he returns and says "£15" - ( seriously that's what he said) By this time my partner has left the table to find out what is going on -- so I setlle for the Latour. We return to the table and order food -- no great shakes - Lasange and Steak and Kidney Pie which was distinctly average . ( as was the wine) The real crowning glory though , was the table itself - it was so dirty that my plate literally got stuck on the table !! - When the waiter came to lift it he had to make two attempts to get the plate off the table - I kid you not! When it first opened after the refurbishment this place had some promise -- and I distincly remember a very nice evening meal with friends some 15 months ago -- Today - it is a disaster ! read more

Myself and a companion had lunch at The Pied Bull today and had a very bad experience there. We both ordered char-grilled vegetables with hummus in toasted ciabatta. The content of the bread was totally unacceptable. Instead of the char-grilled vegetables we had ordered, our roll contained only onions fried in heavy, possibly heavily-used oil: the onions were dark, soft, slimy and strong-smelling. We brought our concerns to the attention o the waitress (Amanda), who was clearly not happy. She examined the content and said she thought she could see a slither of courgette (I couldn't). She took our plates away and returned very ungraciously 5 minutes later, after adding a few small pieces of pepper to our original rolls. This did nothing to take away the taste or smell of greasy fried onion that permeated the bread. She made no further comment, just putting the plates on the table and walking away. The waitress at no time apologised for the quality of the food or the misrepresentation of the content, neither did she return at any time to ask if we were satisfied with the quality of what was presented for a second time; in fact, she studiously avoided coming to our table again. In order to avoid any unpleasantness, I decided to write a letter of complaint on my return home. Staff at the Pied Bull need to receive training in how to respond to customer concerns and complaints, and management needs to ensure that food should reflect what is offered on the menu. I simply cannot recommend The Pied Bull and will not be going there again. Sorry. Zero stars would better reflect my experience there today. read more

Just held my daughters 18th birthday family and friends gathering. I dropped balloons etc at the pub this morning arriving back this evening everything was done. Brilliant! Tables arranged as discussed, Buffett table, photo table, balloons everything all done. Amanda, the Manager, had gone everything perfectly. She has been really helpful . The staff were absolutely brilliant tonight. Nothing was too much trouble. Always polite and very accommodating. I have dined at this pub on numerous occasions. We picked this for my daughters celebrations due to the large number of 'older' relatives. Saying thst, we had plenty of her friends join us too. The food was excellent. Everyone said how fantastic it was. A brilliant evening, I can't thank Amanda or the staff enough. We will definitely use the Pied Bull again for dining out or a celebration. I use it often as some where to pop too for a coffee or quick social drink with friends. read more

12.50pm. Hello, could I book a table for 3 for 1.15pm please? With one dog. Certainly that's no problem. See you then. Great, thanks. 1.15pm arrive at the Pied Bull Hi we booked just now, table for three? Yes, just through at the conservatory. Ah we have a dog You didn't mention that. We don't have a table then. Our dog tables get booked weeks in advance. Oh I did mention about the dog on the phone just now No you didn't. [Points to different table] What about this table? Okay you can go there but make sure the dog goes on the wooden section. In stretched economic times customer service is everything. The individual running this pub was more akin to Basil Fawlty and is setting the worst example to her fantastic staff. They've just lost more business. AVOID THE PIED BULL IN ENFIELD! read more